Tennis ball retrieving device

ABSTRACT

A tennis ball retriever for detachably fastening on the frame of a tennis racket which eliminates bending and stooping required to retrieve a tennis ball from the surface of a tennis court. A thin body is affixed to the frame of a tennis racket to enable a player to conveniently lift or scoop a tennis ball off the playing surface and retrieve it. The retriever may remain fastened during play or may be easily removed if desired.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This application herein pertains to an improved device fastened to atennis racket, and particularly to a device for fastening to the head ofa tennis racket to retrieve tennis balls with ease during and afterpractice or play.

BACKGROUND

Bending or stooping to pick up tennis balls off of a playing surface canbecome a cumbersome task as in a given practice or game a player mustperform this duty repeatedly. This can become challenging particularlyif a player is expended, suffers from a disability, has back or kneeproblems, or is elderly.

There have been many attempts in the past to remedy the burden ofretrieving tennis balls off of the playing surface. Usually thesedevices consist of awkward and expensive appendages or contraptions thatintrude on play or that are of difficulty to operate. Thereafter,several types of tennis ball retrieval devices were designed to remedythis problem. Some of these as disclosed in the following:

U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,850 to Grey discloses a complex device that mountsto the frame of a tennis racket in which a pair of wire tines is pressedover a tennis ball to capture it and lift it off the playing surface.The player then must manually extract the ball from the tines. Thisdevices suffers from being to large in proportion to the racket whichwill interfere with play and suffers from an inconvenient appearance. Italso requires a player to extract the ball manually.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,986 to Howe discloses a highly specific type ofhooked material, when fastened to the frame of a tennis racket hooks onto the nap of a tennis ball which lifts the ball from the playingsurface. The mechanism also requires a player to manually extract theball from the racket. By using the hooked material to grasp the nap ofthe ball, will very quickly tatter the outer layer of the tennis ball.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,854 to Woollard discloses a tennis ball retrieverwhich includes a cap having an open end with a recess and uses aplurality of miniature teeth to grasp the nap surface and therebyallowing a player to lift the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786 toBellettini uses a hooked fabric on the end of the racket handle toattach to tennis balls that are covered with intermeshing material. U.S.Pat. No. 4,815,738 to DiFranco uses a petal mechanism that expands whenforced onto a tennis ball. All of these designs are a detriment to theuser because they require the player to invert the racket, force the endof the handle onto the tennis ball, manually extract the ball, and thenturn the racket over to the playing position.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/257,135 by Blades discloses a tennisball retriever in which a wire loop is affixed to tennis racket stringsto enable a player to scoop a tennis ball off the playing surface andretrieve it. While this prevents the player from having to bend over topick up the ball, the device may interfere with play as it requires thedevice to be affixed to the racket strings. In addition, this devicedoes not allow the player to remove and attach it without effortfulmaneuvering. Also, a wire is a loose and pendulous article which may notconstantly perform the desired task and may have to be replacedregularly.

Therefore, a need exists for an improved and convenient device for atennis racket to pick up tennis balls from the playing surface. Thetennis ball retrieving device according to the embodiment of theinvention substantially departs from the conventional concepts anddesigns of the prior art. Moreover, it is the object of the invention toproduce an inexpensive and suitable device that can be quickly affixedand removed from a tennis racket to enable picking up tennis balls withease during or after play without adversely affecting the utility andappearance of the racket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention claimed, a new and novel tennis ballretriever is disclosed which eliminates the bending and stooping usuallyrequired in the retrieval of a tennis ball from the playing surface.

One or more embodiments of the present invention comprises a curved,flat, flexible, and durable sheet of plastic, rubber, or any otherapplicable body fastened to the head of the frame on a tennis racket toenable a player to pick or scoop up a tennis ball with ease. This deviceis easily attached and removed in that it is affixed to the frame by ahook and loop fastener or other attachment means.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is also sized so as a player iscapable of inserting it into a garment pocket for storage when not inuse on the racket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows top view of the main body of the tennis ball retriever.

FIG. 1B shows front view of the main body of the tennis ball retriever

FIG. 1C shows back view of the main body of the tennis ball retrieverwith the hook portion of the hook and loop fastener system visible onthe lower part of the body.

FIG. 1D shows perspective view of the main body of the tennis ballretriever.

FIG. 2A shows top view of the loop fastener strip with the loop portionof the hook and loop fastener system visible on the top part of theillustration.

FIG. 2B shows front view of the loop fastener strip with the loopportion of the hook and loop fastener system visible on the face.

FIG. 2C shows perspective view of loop fastener strip.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the tennis ball retriever, loopfastener, and tennis racket arranged in the order in which the device beput together.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the tennis ball retriever, loopfastener, and tennis racket with the loop fastener adhered to the frameof the racket.

FIG. 5 shows the tennis ball retriever, loop fastener, and tennis racketall in fastened position

FIG. 6 shows a view of the tennis racket in ready position with theretriever portion removed and the loop fastener visible on the head ofthe racket.

FIG. 7 shows a view of the tennis racket in ready position with theretriever portion attached with the hook and loop fastener to the frame.

FIG. 8-10 show a player using the tennis ball retriever to lift or scoopup a tennis ball from the playing surface.

FIG. 11 shows the tennis ball retriever being peeled away from the loopfastener that is adhered to the frame of the tennis racket

FIG. 12 shows a close up of a tennis ball that is resting in theretrieving area of the tennis ball retriever.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiment of the invention are shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, 2A-2C,whereby the retriever apparatus for retrieving tennis ball comprises: aretriever body with a thin curved form and recessed rim.

In the illustrated embodiment a hook fastener strip is attached to thebase of the retriever body, and a loop fastener strip affixed to theframe of the racket. The body is then removeably attached with the hookfastener strip onto the loop strip (commonly known as velcro) therebyaffixing the retriever body to the racket frame. Once connected, theretriever body can act as a scoop thereof and hold a tennis ball whenlifted. The invented device is preferably positioned at point located atthe top center of the tennis racket head.

In one preferred embodiment the retriever body has a length of aboutfour and a half inches and a height of about two inches. In onepreferred embodiment, the fastener has a length of about four and a halfinches and a width of about three quarters of an inch. The retrieverbody is composed of a uniform cross section comprising a flexible sheetof material that can be repeatedly bent and struck without fracturing.

In the preferred embodiment, the retriever body is a flexible plastic.However, the body can be comprised of any other material that can berepeatedly bent and struck without fracturing including but not limitedto: polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl, nylon, fiberglass, rubber,leather, various impregnated or laminated fibrous materials, variousplasticized materials, cardboard, paper, etc.

In reference to the drawings, it will be understood that the drawingmerely illustrates one embodiment of the invention and is not intendedto limit the invention to the embodiment specifically illustrated.

Referring to of the main body of the tennis ball retriever illustratedin FIG. 1A (top view), FIG. 1B (front view), FIG. 1C (back view), andFIG. 1D (perspective view). Recessed rim 22 is shown in FIGS. 1A-1Dwhich guides the tennis ball to the center of the retrieving body as aresult of the concave shape.

Referring to FIG. 1C, the back view body 10 has a hook fastener strip 12affixed at the base of the body. Hook fastener strip 12 attaches to thebody 10 by virtue of adhesive.

FIGS. 1C and 2A-2CS show illustrative embodiment of a hook and loopfastener system comprising a hook fastener strip12, a loop fastenerstrip, 14, and adhesive strips 16 which attach the hook and loopfastener to their respective surfaces.

One suitable hook and loop fastener is a double surface, indoor/outdoor,water resistant strip available from Velcro USA Inc. (Manchester, N.H.).However, the fastening means may be any other material or system that iscapable of attaching the main body of the retriever to frame of theracket, such as a comparable type of hook and loop fastener, latch,clasp, magnet, cinch, snap, clip, etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded viewpoint of the tennis ball retrievingdevice in the order the device be arranged and connected together ontothe racket. FIG. 4 illustrates the loop fastener strip 14 affixed withthe adhesive backing 16 to the racket frame 18. FIG. 5 illustrates thebody 10 mounted onto the loop fastener 14 that is adhered to the racket18.

FIG. 6 illustrates the racket 18 being held and ready to use with theretriever removed and the loop fastener strip 14 in place. FIG. 7illustrates the racket 18 being held and ready to use with the retriever10 fastened to the racket. The player has the option of using theretriever or playing with the retriever removed. The position of theretriever is does not interfere with a ball if it is struck anywhere inthe string area of the tennis racket.

FIGS. 8-10 illustrate how the tennis ball retriever can be used toeasily to retrieve the tennis ball off of the playing surface. Theracket 18 is first placed against the tennis ball 20, the ball beingpositioned centered roughly in front of the retriever 10. The recessedrim 22 helps guide the tennis ball 20 to the center onto the retriever10. As shown in FIG. 9-FIG. 10, the player then sweeps the racket,carrying the ball onto the retriever and raising it upwards in a singlemotion. The player has the option at this point to grab the ball off ofthe tennis racket or toss it into the air and catch the ball with theother hand.

FIG. 11 illustrates how conveniently simple it is to attach and removethe retriever 10 from the loop fastener 14. The player merely peels theretriever 10 away from the loop fastener 14 that is adhered to theracket 18. FIG. 12 shows a close up illustration of the tennis ball 20sitting in the retrieving area of the tennis ball retriever 10.

The principle advantages of using the tennis ball retrieving device overprevious methods is that the ball can be lifted off the playing surfacein a single motion. The device is designed so that it is lightweight andthin enough so as to have any detrimental effect to the appearance ofthe racket or any detrimental effect during normal play. The design isalso inexpensive to manufacture. The present inventor has built andextensively tested a prototype. A considerable advantage of this deviceis the ease of removing and reattaching the retriever onto the racket,which from testing the prototype, can be done in a matter of seconds.The device is also sized to be placed into the pocket of the playerwhile not in use. Experience has shown that the optimum position of thetennis ball retrieving device is at the end of the head of frame of theracket, centered exactly at the top of the head of the frame. Anotheradvantage is the surface area on the body of the retriever allows amplespace for various aesthetic colors, designs, patterns, graphics, andlogos to be applied which would be beneficial for commercial use.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described inconnection with tennis, the invention is applicable to other sports inwhich a player uses a racket. It will be recognized that the tennis ballretrieving device as illustrated and described represents an advance andsimplification over the prior art in terms of commercial feasibility,design, aesthetic appearance, ease of operation and convenience of use.These many advantages and features are accomplished through the designand construction of the tennis ball retrieving device of which theforegoing described and illustrated embodiments are merely illustrative.Many variations of the design and adaptations can be made based upon theforegoing description. For example, the body of the retriever can haveother shapes, such as circular, oval, trapezoidal, triangular, etc. Theretriever can also be made with various colors, patterns, graphics,logos, signage, etc.; without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

1. An apparatus for placement on the frame of a racket to retrieve ballsused therewith comprising: a retrieval body for attachment to said frameof said racket, wherein the frame of said racket has a head and theretrieval body attaches to a point at the head of said racket; afastener means for fastening said retrieval body to said frame, whereina portion of said fastening means is joined to said body andcomplementary said fastening means is joined to said frame.
 2. Theapparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said body comprises a thinresilient plane and wherein when fastened to said point, said bodyconforms to said frame conjointly extending beyond the depth of one sideof said frame in a parallel arrangement, whereby said body protrudessufficiently on said one side for tennis ball retrieving purposes. 3.The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said fastener meanscomprises an adhesive hook and loop fastening strip, wherein saidadhesive loop strip is attached to a point at the head of said racket,and wherein said adhesive hook strip is attached to a portion of saidretrieval body.